Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 904,500 shares, a growth of 31.7% from the December 15th total of 687,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 268,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCHL. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $279,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 50.0% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 34,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 11,487 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Scholastic by 13.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 488,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,319,000 after purchasing an additional 56,835 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 2nd quarter worth $1,936,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Scholastic by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scholastic Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of SCHL stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 192,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,713. The company has a market cap of $562 million, a PE ratio of -111.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.87. Scholastic has a 52 week low of $18.57 and a 52 week high of $40.74.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.48). Scholastic had a negative net margin of 0.27% and a positive return on equity of 1.91%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Scholastic will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Scholastic’s payout ratio is -444.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th.

Scholastic Company Profile

Scholastic Corporation publishes and distributes children’s books worldwide. It operates in three segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. The Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment engages in publication and distribution of children’s print, digital, and audio books, as well as media and interactive products through its school reading events and trade channel; and operation of school-based book clubs and book fairs in the United States.